COLLEGEVILLE – Dan Gable doesn't work a lot of wrestling camps these days.

But since the former Olympic gold medalist and legendary longtime Iowa head coach has a cabin in Northern Minnesota, making a stop at St. John's on his way to the lake Tuesday fit nicely into his schedule.

"I really don't do a lot of these anymore," said Gable, 65, who also made a stop at Augsburg earlier in the day.

"I worked a camp on the mat for the first time in awhile recently. I did six hours and that was too much. But doing one like this — where I can just talk — works out really well."

The crowd on hand at Sexton Arena — made up of those attending this week's St. John's wrestling camp and other members of the general public — heard Gable speak about his career as a wrestler and coach. He also talked about drawing on the lessons learned in wrestling when it comes to other aspects of life.

"When you learn how to compete in this sport, that's going to help in a lot of ways," said Gable, who captured a gold medal in Munich in 1972 and went on to lead Iowa to 15 national titles as head coach from 1976-97.

"Of all the individuals I ever coached, only a handful really and totally learned how to compete from second one of a match until the last. But if you can learn to be one of those guys, whether you become a champion or not, you're going to be successful forever."

Gable also shared with the crowd some of the adversity he has had to overcome in his own life — including the 1964 murder of his sister, his mother's bout with cancer and losing the final match of his collegiate career — the lone setback he suffered while compiling a 181–1 record at Iowa State.

"I got beat, but then I got good," Gable said. "Because I learned from that. You don't want a lot of adversity in your life. But every now and then, a little bit can be good for you because it teaches you to learn from your mistakes."

Buy Photo

Wrestlers at the St. John's University wrestling camp Tuesday, June 6, had a chance to hear Olympic gold medal winner and wrestling coach Dan Gable speak during their camp.(Photo: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)

Gable also stressed the importance of younger athletes remaining involved with wrestling as they get older. He cited the successful battle to save wrestling as an Olympic sport after the International Olympic Committee first announced plans to drop it last year.

"We had individual wrestlers and individual countries teaming up together for the first time in the history of our sport," Gable said.

"That's the kind of involvement we need if we're going to continue to grow."

Gable said afterward that the battle to save wrestling's Olympic status caused him to rededicate himself to promoting the sport.

"It really hit me hard and made me refocus in a lot of ways," Gable said. "I have gotten more involved when it comes to what we're doing and where we're going as a sport"."

That's why he enjoys speaking with younger wrestlers the way he was able to do Tuesday.

"I hope they come away a little more educated about and more committed to the sport," said Gable, who took questions from the audience after his presentation, then posed for pictures and signed autographs.

New St. John's head coach Tony Willaert said getting Gable to appear at the school's wrestling camp was big.

"He's really the best ever, not just as a coach, but before that as an athlete," Willaert said. "Anybody who knows wrestling knows about him and what he's done. "He was a huge role model for me growing up."